Electric switch.



B. W. MACY.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1907.

ATTORNEYS B. W. MACY.

ELEGTRIG SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. zo, 1907.

Patented 53.11.26, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W/TNESSES A TTQHNE YS BARNTT WRIGHT MACY, OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA.

ELECTRIC swrrcn,

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

i aap-instaan am september 2o, 1am. semi No. 393,823.

- will, 'so 'as to greatly simplify the wiring.

My invention may be used, for instance, in coi'i'nection 'With electric lights and house Wiring, in such manner that the various electric lamps in the house may be lighted either severally or collectively, :and any group or combination oi. such lights, chosen arbitrarily at, will, may be lighted to the exclusion 'of the other lamps.

Reference is to -be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in 'which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the iigures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the switch-board, the top being partly broken away for the urpose of showing the contact mechanism; ig. 2 is 'a central section upon the line 2--2 of Fig. l, 'showing the arrangement 4of 'the contact arm, the hand-cran for turning the same and the various contact members engaged by the contact-arm, and Fig. 3 is a diagram of the wiring of the entire system, including the lamps.

A casing4 is provided with a bottom 5 of insulating material and with a top 6. A

sleeve 7 of conducting material is connected i centrally with the bottom 5, and encircling this lsleeve is a nut 8. The lower end of the sleeve is provided with an annular head 9.

- Mounted centrally within the sleeve is a stubshaft 10, and upon the upper end of this stubshaft is a hand-crank 11, provided with a knob 12, and a detent 13 is 'mounted upon the under side of the hand-crank 11. A ring 14 of metal is mounted centrally upon. the top `6, andis provided with notches 15, into which the detent 13 is adapted to engage, for the purpose of holding the handle 11 in. various predetermined ositions. A contactarm 16 of substantie. y sector shape, is provided With contact-:fingers 1 7, integral therewith and separated from each other by radial 'slots 1,8v (see Fig. 3).

. A leaf-spring 19 is secured to -the stubshaft 1G and engages the contact-arm 16 for the purpose of pressing the same downward. A number of contact-buttons 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 are spaced some distance apart, so that by turning the contact-arm 16' it may be readilyt brought 'into communication with them separa'tely. A number ci smaller contact-buttons 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 are arranged in groups, as Shown. Connected with the contact-buttons 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 are wires 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34. iastenings 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39, as shown in Fig. 3. Other wires 40, 41, 42, 43 lead from the c0ntact-buttons 29 of a group to the fastenings 36, 37, 38, 39. vSimilarly other groups of wires 44, 45, 46 lead from the various groups of contact-buttons 28, 27, 26 to the various fastenings 35 to 39 inclusive. The idea is that any oneoi the groups 26, 27, 28 may be connected by a wire 46, 45, 44 to the various fastenings, such as 35, 36, 37, 38, inl such manner thatany particular group of buttons 26, 27, 28 represents any arbitrary collection of lam s distributed in various 'parts ofA the bui ding, scribed.

The vcontact buttons 25 (five in number) are connected by wires 25, 25h, 25C, 25 d, 25e

as hereinafter de- These wires are connected also with with the various fastenings 35, 36, 37, 38, 39. Y

Int rmediate the contact-button 20 and the first contact button 25 is a space 16 of proper width to accommodate all ol the contact iin'ers 17. This space I designate as the dead point, the expression meaning that when thecontact arm is in the position indicated in Fig. 3, or in other words, occupies the space 16f, none of the circuits are closed, and consequently all of the lights are extinguished.

At 47 is shown one of the mains or feed Wires from the street. It connects directly to the sleeve 7 of conducting material, as will be understood 'from Fig. 3.

Wires 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 lead from the respective contact buttons 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, to the respective lamps 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57. These lamps-are in turn connected by wires 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, with a wire 63 which serves as a common return and is of opposite polarity from the wire 47; that is to say, the wires 63, 47 represent the two wires which ordinarily lead to opposite terminals'of an incandescent lamp.

The operation of my device is as follows:

Assuming the various 'connections to be I ton 20, 21, 22, 23 or 24, thereby completing a circuit through the appropriate lamp.

Assuming that one or more contact iingers 17 rest'upon the contact button 22, for instance, the circuit may be traced as follows: main wireor lead 47, sleeve 7, stub shaft 10, contactarm 16, spring fingers 17, contact button 22,wire 50, lamp 55, wire 60, thence to wire 63 and outward to the source of supply, thence back to wire 47. A circuit may similarly be traced through any one ofthe other lam s. Suppose, however, that the operator esires to light all of the lamps. He moves the contact arm 16 a little to the left, according to Figs. 2 and 3, so that the contact fingers 17 engage the contact butthis course elsewhere being the same as above traced. Suppose further that the operator desires to light only the lamps numbered 54, 55, 56, 57. He ascertains which group of contact buttons have been connected up for the purpose in question. This group, we will say, is the, one at the left of Fig. 3 and made up of buttons designated 29. The op'- erator next grasps the button 12 and by its aid turns the stub shaft 10 until the arm 16 reaches such a position that the contact ngers 1-7'engage the contact buttons 29.- The erases circuit may now be traced as follows: wire 47, stub shaft 10, contact arm 16, contact fingers 17, contact buttons 29, wires 40, 41, 42, 43, fastenings 36, 37, 38, 39, wires 31, 32, 33, 34, contact buttons 21, 22, 23, 24, wires 49, 50, 51, 52, lamps 54, 55, 56, 57, and wires 59, 60, 61, 62, to wire 63, the return circuit being as above described.

As there may be as many groups of buttons as desired, and these groups of buttons may be connected up arbitrarily/lin any de- 'sired combination, `with the various fastenings 35, 36, 37, 38., 39, it is obvious that the apparatus may be so arranged that the operator may at will throw in or out of circuit any lamp or oup of lamps he may select, and this, tomy merely shifting the position of the handle.

' Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

In an electric switch, the combination cfa?. casing, contact buttons mounted therein, a revoluble shaft disposed centrally of said casing, a contact arm mounted rupon said shaft and terminating in springcontact iingers, a-leaf spring mounted rigidly upon said shaft and extending radially outward therefrom, said leaf spring at its outer end engaging said contact arm for the -purpose of forcing said contact fingers', into engagement with said contact buttons, a ring mounted u on said casing and dis osed concentricaily oi) said shaft, said rin eing provided with notches, a hand cran mounted upon said shaft, and a detent mounted upon said hand crank and adapted to click into said notches as said hand crank is turned.

In testimony whereof I have signed, my

name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BARNETT WRIGHT MACY.- i

Witnesses:

R. H. MACY, WALToN HARRISON.` 

